Are Democrats going to try to ram the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill through the Senate?

posted at 7:41 pm on March 29, 2013 by Allahpundit

Initially it sounded like Pat Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was prepared to put the brakes on, but his last letter to Jeff Sessions suggested otherwise. We’ve already had hearings on immigration over the years, he said. Granted, not on this particular bill, which might, in substantial part, actually end up being enacted and setting U.S. immigration policy for decades to come. But still. You wanted a debate on this issue and you kinda sorta got it. Years ago. Piecemeal. In the context of different legislation. What more do you want?

Leahy suggested the Judiciary Committee has already done enough talking about immigration reform. There were lots of hearings on the subject back in 2006, he said, and a few in the past couple of months. Although there is no bill to evaluate yet — “I regret that we do not have a legislative proposal before us,” Leahy said — the chairman strongly suggested he sees little need for further discussion.

So when the Gang of Eight bill is finished, Leahy declared, it will be considered “with all deliberate speed.” After it is introduced in committee, Republicans will be allowed to delay consideration by one week (a standard prerogative of the minority party). After that, there will be no more hearings, no extended discussion of the bill’s provisions. Voting on amendments and then a final committee vote will soon follow…

Leahy’s timetable left Republicans slack-jawed. Said one GOP aide: “The suggestion that you are going to create a new guest worker program, new border security protocols, new interior enforcement protocols, change worksite rules, future flow of immigrants, family migration, every category of visas, high-skill workers, low-skill workers, an entry system, an exit system, a tracking system, and on top of that consider the complex legal and economic concerns relating to legalizing an untold number of people who are currently here illegally ?– the idea that you’re going to do that in a couple of weeks is –” At that point, the aide stopped, unable to come up with a word to describe such an undertaking.

Why might a Republican senator agree to help Democrats fast-track the bill by voting for cloture? Because: If you want this thing to pass, the fast track might be the only way. If you set aside three months for hearings, that’s three months for grassroots conservatives to mobilize, three months for a deal between big business and big labor on guest workers to fall apart, three months for amnesty advocates to overreach with their demands and send centrist Republicans fleeing, etc. If you do it quickly, the way Lindsey Graham and other hardcore comprehensive reform shills want, you put the ball in Boehner’s court with some legislative momentum behind passage and then maybe it gets a little harder for House Republicans who are on the fence to say no. After all, there’s heavy pressure from party leadership to do this soon and impress Latinos before the midterms. Are the 40-50 squishier members of the caucus really going to say no? The specter of Democratic demagoguery will hover over any Republican attempt to slow this down, just as it hovers over everything else immigration-related. Even if the GOP signals support for the bill and asks only for a delay of a few months to fine-tune the provisions, Schumer et al. will be merciless in arguing to Latinos that this is actually a Republican attempt to kill immigration reform again. For that reason alone, the fast-track process is likely to be more viable among the GOP than you’d expect.

For what it’s worth (i.e. nothing), and notwithstanding my status as a card-carrying RINO, I won’t vote for/support any GOP pol who rubber-stamps this thing, Democratic demagoguery or not. I could conceivably support someone who votes for the bill after due deliberation, although obviously that’ll depend on what sort of border enforcement we get. But as a purely procedural matter, if they try to sneak something this momentous through without fully vetting it, that’s a dealbreaker.

Breaking on Hot Air

Blowback

Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.

Trackbacks/Pings

Comments

Will leahy title his bill: “Keeping the d-cRAT Socialists in Power Forever” bill? – or, perhaps “Bankrupting America Through Welfare to 20+ Million Additional Leeches” bill?
…or are those way too honest descriptions for a d-cRAT extremist to use?

if they try to sneak something this momentous through without fully vetting it, that’s a dealbreaker.

well, i’m sure that’ll scare them off. /

but seriously, i think there a decent chance. O.care worked out real well….sure, rough for a while, but in the end progressives will be closer to their end-goal…state-run medicine.

Same with this. How many Rs in the senate will cave…let me suggest many…scared to death because they have no vision, no answers…and all they want is a first-class office, and TV time (and a excellent pension)

the House? Envision barry and Schumer/Durbin hectoring the house endlessly…David gregory pounding the table about the overt racism of the redneck party. Is there a coalition of Ds and enough Rs to get it thru?

The real issues are 1. guest worker program and 2 at least a fig-leaf of border ‘security’

and…once the migrants get a green card? Obamacare is right there waitng for them

stake are high…the left sees and electoral lock…free h/c…AND citizenship in due course

Leahy’s timetable left Republicans slack-jawed. Said one GOP aide: “The suggestion that you are going to create a new guest worker program, new border security protocols, new interior enforcement protocols, change worksite rules, future flow of immigrants, family migration, every category of visas, high-skill workers, low-skill workers, an entry system, an exit system, a tracking system, and on top of that consider the complex legal and economic concerns relating to legalizing an untold number of people who are currently here illegally ?– the idea that you’re going to do that in a couple of weeks is –” At that point, the aide stopped, unable to come up with a word to describe such an undertaking.

After all, there’s heavy pressure from party leadership to do this soon and impress Latinos before the midterms.

Impress legal voting Latinos? Or the hidden underground latinos that have made their way onto the voting rolls? My question is, ARE the legal Latinos who are citizens, (who came thru the front door), and have been paying into the system, in need of being “impressed” for letting millions thru the back door?

Well, we have to keep in mind that the ‘NEW and IMPROVED’ GOP, led by destructive, misguided, opportunistic progressives like Rubio, believe that granting INSTANT AMNESTY to 12 million plus illegals (who just happen to be locked-in future democrats) is a winning strategy for 2014 and 2016. The Republican Party wants INSTANT AMNESTY, and they want it NOW – and they simply do not care what Americans want. If this passes, Republicans will be to blame – Rubio, McCain, Graham, et al, must be held responsible for this vile act of treason.

Same with this. How many Rs in the senate will cave…let me suggest many…scared to death because they have no vision, no answers…and all they want is a first-class office, and TV time (and a excellent pension)

the House? Envision barry and Schumer/Durbin hectoring the house endlessly…David gregory pounding the table about the overt racism of the redneck party. Is there a coalition of Ds and enough Rs to get it thru?

They did this with gun control after Newtown and gun-right supporters have won.

However, the NRA is far, far tougher than the present-day GOP establishment.

This is the way the Democrat Senate has worked: Negotiate a bill in secret in back rooms, then ram it through on the floor before anybody has a chance to read it.

Socratease on March 29, 2013 at 8:39 PM

This is not the case with this bill. Republicans have been in on it from day one. This bill was written by the ‘Gang of 8′ which consists of 4 Republicans and 4 democrats, with the help of Rubio, McCain and Graham – Republicans have known all along how this would turn out – they want it to pass.

As none of us has actually seen the bill yet, this is superfluous speculation. Rubio is on record stating secure borders are a trigger for any path towards normalization of criminaliens. We shall see if he is the traitor that many hear are quick to claim or he stands by his words. I am willing to wait and see what he does before passing any judgment.

Along with Schumer and McCain, the drafters include Democratic Senators Michael Bennet of Colorado, Dick Durbin of Illinois, and Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Republican Senators Jeff Flake of Arizona, Graham and Rubio.

Today we must all be aware that political expediency and latino ethnicity takes precedence over rule of law and constitutional procedure. However you say – WHAT THE – what does this mean… in relation to the tabulation whereby we must once again realize that the great reconquesta story is now being rehearsed before our very eyes, in the rise of Marco Rubio… indicating that only a two-faced, I mean a bi-faced, I mean a bi-lingual hombre can receive…the award for reconquesta, unlike Kenyan Hussein Obama whose reconquesta plans don’t drink water.

Amigos – comrades – friends, we are gathered here as an edifice of the great glory that is now vanishing and the intuitive feeling, based on the assumption as Mencken once said, “He who underestimates the American voter will never go broke.” This is merely a small indication to behold and to perceive that which has gone way into the behind and to that which might go forward out of the future…we’ve got to rip up the constitution so we can rip down those outdated borders!

Ladies and Gentlemen. The time will come when a first world America will outlive its usefulness. Marx, either Groucho or Karl, I can’t remember which, maybe it was both or maybe it was Harpo, once said that America is the opiate of the people. I say that when America outlives its usefulness and becomes a majority latino nation , then opium…will be the opiate…Ahh that’s not a bad idea… we are going to need that especially when the booze runs out …

And the bi-partisan panel, has determined to give the prize to Marco Rubio for his EARNESTY’S RAINBOW. Now EARNESTY’S RAINBOW is a token of this man’s genius…he told me so himself and repeatedly …that he could change perceptions by calling his plan for knocking down those pesky borders EARNESTY …in other words, he could have been more specific, but rather than to allude to an articulation of the mundane, he has come to the conclusion that brevity is the importance of our nation’s shallow first world existence. God damn!

Marco Rubio’s . EARNESTY’S RAINBOW – is a small contribution to a certain degree, since there are over seven billion people in the world today. 450 of them … million live in the United States and Mexico which is a very, very small amount compared to those who will be miserable and dying elsewhere…Well, I say that you will be on the road to new horizons, for we who live in a society where citizenship is a commodity and a politician can become a TV personality, it’s not easy to conform if you have any morality…I, I, I said that myself many years ago…

But I do want to thank la Raza…I mean the RNC … I mean the DNC and it’s subsidiary the RNC, the organization for the $1,000 in affirmative action latino scholarships they’ve given out…tonight they took in over $4,000,000, but they do have expenses for their consultants you know, and I think that I have another appointment. I would like to stay here, but for the sake of brevity I, I must leave. I do want to thank you, I want to thank Mr. Allah Pundit. I want to thank Mr. Morrisey, who just ran through the auditorium and out a fire exit, and I want to thank Marco Rubio – acting el Presidenta of la Raza Mexiamerica and also Mr. Obama – acting Pharaoh and Drone Commander of the World – and also I want to thank Professor Irwin Corey and thank you. …

I know you despise Rubio, but you’re pullin’ a Palin on him. I’m willing to see what he does, but I have to admit that the longer he stays silent the worse it looks….

dmann on March 29, 2013 at 9:49 PM

“Pulling a Palin”? Excuse me? RUBIO HELPED WRITE THE BILL. What is it that you don’t understand? AND – democrats control the Senate – it does not matter how Rubio or any Republican votes at this point. BUT, why would RUBIO vote against a bill that he helped write, and even if he does, does that absolve him of all responsibility for the crafting of the bill? No – whether he votes for it, in the end, or not, does not matter.

INSTANT AMNESTY is Rubio’s signature issue – he has been pushing AMNESTY for months – he wants this bill to pass, and he knows full well that democrats have the votes to ram it through – with or without his vote – he helped bring it to this point.

Some form of legal status/consideration is coming whether we like it or not. Best we get something in return like secure borders and a defined path with requirements to stay here. We lost the election and any chance to stop this. I hope you voted in November!

although obviously that’ll depend on what sort of border enforcement we get

Stupid question, considering you have never had border enforcement before even though it is the law of the land, what makes you think that any additional legislation is going to provide it? Frankly, I thought you had more common sense.

Some form of legal status/consideration is coming whether we like it or not. Best we get something in return like secure borders and a defined path with requirements to stay here. We lost the election and any chance to stop this. I hope you voted in November!

dmann on March 29, 2013 at 10:27 PM

The ‘Gang of 8′ plan, allows obama and Napolitano to unilaterally declare the border to be “SECURE” whenever they wish – in other words, this plan does not provide any means of securing the border, and does not increase border security in any way – Rubio is not interested in securing the border.

Thanks to Rubio, and other progressive Republicans of his ilk, the democrats will get the gold mine (tens of millions of shiny new democrat voters/welfare recipients), and the rest of us will get the shaft, and likely will get stuck with another democrat president in 2016.

Umm…how about, not even dealing with the legalities and the whole fairness toward the legal immigrants, not no but hell no. Why the hell are we even debating legalizing any illegal immigrants while the economy is shite? Why aren’t we splitting the Dems’ factions over the fact that unemployment is still catastrophically shite, but the Dems want to add 10s of millions of people to the employment rolls? FFS, the Repubs are the worst people on G-d’s earth for politics – who the f*ck is leading them?? The JEF is running all over them over an issue the people are totally against

For what it’s worth (i.e. nothing), and notwithstanding my status as a card-carrying RINO, I won’t vote for/support any GOP pol who rubber-stamps this thing, Democratic demagoguery or not. I could conceivably support someone who votes for the bill after due deliberation, although obviously that’ll depend on what sort of border enforcement we get. But as a purely procedural matter, if they try to sneak something this momentous through without fully vetting it, that’s a dealbreaker.

As a fellow beta male RINO, I agree 100% with you, but I didn’t think we were supposed to firm stances. Where is the wishy washiess?

This has the feel of Titanic, the sequel, and we’re headed for another iceberg. On the ship’s deck are a group of Republican senators trying to convince conservatives that this time everything will work out OK. Lifeboat’s anyone?